Pavan and Humana-Paredes win Porec Major for first tour title
Beach volleyball players Sarah Pavan and Melissa Humana-Paredes celebrated Canada’s 150th birthday in the best way imaginable, by winning their first FIVB World Tour title at the Porec Major in Croatia.
The Canadians – seeded sixth in Porec – beat the fifth seed team of Barbora Hermannova and Marketa Slukova from the Czech Republic 2-1 (32-34, 21-12, 15-6) in the final to take gold.
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After losing a marathon first set, Pavan and Humana-Paredes regrouped and dominated the second. Momentum completely with the Canadians heading into the deciding set, the veteran Pavan, fittingly, won match point at the net after making vital dig to continue the last rally.
The win brings Pavan to the top of a tour podium for the first time in her fifth final, including one in Porec in 2015. It’s the eighth FIVB medal of her beach World Tour career with the newfound gold complementing four silver and three bronze medals.
For Humana-Paredes, it’s her second career medal, both coming this year with Pavan. Back on May 21, the Canadian duo playing their first full season together won silver at the Rio Open, where Hermannova and Slukova took bronze.
